12/13/2009

Ode to Madrid.

It is a weird thing to admit but it's true: once you lived in Madrid, it will be terribly difficult, if not impossible to live anywhere else. Or, and this is embarassing, even leave it for a few days.

We spent two and a half days in Valencia and by the end of the second one every third sentence that rolled out of our mouth was "I miss Madrid, when do we go home?". My friend went to Paris for almost a week and decided she had already seen enough to come home - after her first day in the French capital.

But what is it about Madrid that is so mesmerizing and unique that you get addicted to it? Well, it's maybe the fact that you can get anything, anywhere, anytime here, the fact that people are always happy-go-lucky, the fact that this indeed is a city that never sleeps (maybe except for Sundays).

However, Madrid is not perfect either (after all, I've already seen testicles on the subway and many, many other rare things all over the streets) but this is exactly what makes it so fabulous - it comes with shortcomings, yes, but every single one of them is entertaining.

Madrid might not be a tourist paradise (there are many more beautiful cities out there) but it definitely is a wonderful city to live in.